


Fishing

by Auste



Category: Redwall Series - Brian Jacques
Genre: Gen, Gen Work, Introspection, Original Character(s), Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:27:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29462748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auste/pseuds/Auste
Summary: It has been a season since the events of Outcast of Redwall, and Bryony winds up fishing with a stranger. Their conversation takes an all-too-familiar turn. Written for goonlalagoon on tumblr for the Redwall Midwinter Gift Exchange 2021.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Fishing

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, I'm also indefatigababble on tumblr, posting my gift for the Redwall Midwinter Gift Exchange really late (real life got very hectic with new job and then a bit of a medical problem on the side) but here it is!
> 
> This is my first time writing within Outcast of Redwall so I'm hoping I did this right. If not, well, practice makes perfect. I was not very satisfied with the ending to the book and although I think there may be a lot of fic out there fixing that, I want to believe that after some time, Bryony has changed her mind slightly about, well, if you've finished this book, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, this is your final warning. There will be spoilers.

Birds trilled in the trees and called to each other as Bryony walked down the all-too-familiar path headed for a stream where she knew blue elderberries flourished. The Redwall Abbey cooks, she knew, would appreciate a basket of the fruits for their cakes, pastries and salads. And she herself appreciated the quiet walk on the way to the berries; while she appreciated the company of all her friends and family in the Abbey, sometimes it was good to be alone with her thoughts.

The mouse headed for the spot where she knew most berries flourished, her basket at the ready. It didn’t take her long to find the juicy clusters and pick the biggest ones. As she continued gathering the elderberries, her thoughts began to wander.

It had been a season since Veil died, after all. Veil Sixclaw, the young ferret she had cared for and had defended at every turn despite his downward spiral into wickedness. In the end, she concluded that the world was better off without him.

But was it, really?

Seeing him die protecting her, hearing him continue to push her away even as he entered the gates of Dark Forest, feeling his cold, unmoving body…these images haunted Bryony in nightmares and daydreams. If he were truly evil, he would not have cared what happened to her. Yet, even as he chose the wrong path despite Redwall’s kindness and generosity, it was as if a single shred of good burned long enough for Veil to choose his own death over seeing Bryony die.

She paused in the middle of berry picking to stare at the stream as it burbled merrily along without a care for the pensive mouse watching it before turning away to comb the berry bushes further.

“Yeowch, hey – are you okay?”

Bryony gasped and stepped back, gabbling out an “Oh, I’m sorry!”

She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice a well-build squirrel toting a full set of fishing tackle. But the squirrel just laughed.

“Guess you’re okay. You’re from Redwall, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am,” Bryony answered, straightening up. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around. Do you live in Mossflower?”

The squirrel shook her head. “I live on the edge, but I like to visit, especially to go fishing. You know, this here is not just a good berry spot, but also a fishing spot. Do you know how to fish, missy?”

“A little, but I don’t do it a lot.” Bryony’s fishing experience was mostly assisting the real fisherbeasts and trying to digest the lessons they gave her.

“That’s fine, I can teach you. By the way, I’m Aspen.”

“I’m Bryony, but…”

“That’s a nice name for a pretty mousemaid like you.” Aspen chuckled and sat down on a rock on the streambank before gesturing for Bryony to sit on the log beside her. “You look like you could use a little sit-down. We’ll make a fisherbeast out of you one day.”

“Oh, no, I don’t think I can impose…”

“Nonsense, I once worked with a rabbit who flung his pole straight into the water. Come on, give it a try.” Aspen laughed as she watched the mouse primly seat herself onto the log. “Surely you can’t be that bad.” Then the squirrel offered her a fishing pole. “See that hook? I’ve got a little kit of bait here, I’ll set it down between us so you can take your pick. Actually, this kit is more like…my leftover lunch.” Aspen laughed again, and Bryony had to admit, the laughter was a bit contagious. The mouse did as she was told and poked a piece of bread through her hook.

“Now toss your line into the stream. This might be a bit of a wait, but just let me know if you need to leave.”

* * *

“Am I doing this right?” Bryony asked, staring at her line. Beside her, Aspen had propped her feet up onto a nearby stone and seemed to be relaxing even though all she had caught were a couple of small fish.

“You’re doing fine,” Aspen assured her. “Sometimes the fish are biting, sometimes they’re not. But even when they’re not, it’s good to sit quietly and watch the world go by or get lost in your thoughts…kinda like you when I ran into you, missy. You looked like you had a lot on your mind.”

“I guess you’re right about that,” Bryony answered slowly. “I was thinking, about a…a friend.” She hesitated, unsure whether she should tell this squirrel she just met about Veil.

“A friend, huh?” The squirrel perked up. “Speaking of friends, I’m taking this fish back to one such friend. His name is Romwald. He’s really nice, for a ferret.”

The mouse sat up so straight that she nearly dropped her fishing pole. “A ferret? Your friend is a ferret?” she asked in surprise.

Aspen glanced at her and laughed again. “I get that reaction a lot, you know! But yes, Romwald is a ferret. He used to be part of a raiding band until he started to feel bad about the folks they beat up and robbed. One day he fled their camp. While he was wandering around, he saved me from his old friends, taught them a nasty lesson.”

Bryony winced. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Ever since then he’s been living with me. He helps me forage for food and sometimes travels with me, but he’s still shy around others. Little ones see him and run away before he can say anything, and some hedgehogs have warned him to stay away from their property.” Aspen let out a sigh. “I always have to tell everyone else that he’s harmless, that he’s changed.”

“Are you sure he’s changed?” The words tumbled from Bryony’s mouth before she could control herself – but she wondered if she would have indeed controlled herself from asking that question. “Ferrets, all vermin…they say they’ll change, but they never do.”

That question gave Aspen some pause, and Bryony wondered if she had overstepped. But the squirrel barely reacted and merely reeled in her line; no fish had taken her bait, and she cast her line again.

“That’s what I thought, too. But how could ol’ Romwald be bad, if he was willing to risk his life for me, some squirrel wandering about?”

“But – “

“He’s been nothing but helpful since then, even warned a sly fox away from our home once,” Aspen went on. “So far, he hasn’t given me any reason to believe that he _hasn’t_ changed.”

“But what if he’s good at lying? Pretending to change?”

Aspen was quiet again, this time, for a much longer stretch of time. Her line quivered, and she reeled in a silvery fish that she tossed into a bucket full of water.

“I’ve been around him long enough to trust him. He hasn’t hurt me, or lied to me, and of course, he had no reason to save me from his old friends. But he did. That’s pretty strong evidence for a good beast – that they would risk their life for someone else’s.”

“You really think that?” Bryony asked. She could almost see Veil flashing past her again, dying in her place.

“Of course I do. The worst creatures live only for themselves. How can you think ill of someone who saved your life? I might not be here now, chatting and fishing with you, if it weren’t for Romwald.”

_I might not be here now_.

The mouse repeated those words mentally. If she had been wounded, she might have died, even if Togget or their other friends had managed to seek help. That realization dawned on her.

“So, in a way, I owe him. I owe that ferret my life, and I would be a pretty horrible beast to not give him a chance after that or to leave him behind when he’s got no one else.”

Bryony’s line twitched, but she caught nothing, and said nothing.

“Ah, well, you catch some, you lose some,” Aspen remarked, looking at Bryony’s line and tossing another fish into her bucket. “Takes practice, and a little luck. Hmm, I think I have enough for Romwald’s dinner and breakfast, so I might call it a day. You want to keep trying?”

“Oh, no, if you’re going…I’ll return this to you.” The mouse offered her fishing pole. “Thank you for teaching me.”

“No, thank _you_ for the company,” replied Aspen as she began packing up her things. “Any chance we can go fishing again sometime? You can take some of your Redwall friends along if you’d like. And…” She paused. “I’ve got a little something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“A lot of vermin are evil creatures, but some of them…some of them make good choices, and others even change for the better. Just as there are some unruly mice, or squirrels, or hedgehogs, or voles, or rabbits, there are good ferrets, and stoats, and rats, too, who do what’s right, at least once in their lives.” Aspen stood up and tried to wave even though she was now carrying both her fishing tackle and the bucket of fish. “Hope I can fish with you again sometime, Bryony. Maybe one day, I can introduce you to Romwald, too. He could use more friends that aren’t me.”

After a short chuckle, she turned and started down the path, leaving Bryony alone with her thoughts – no, Aspen’s thoughts.

_I might not be here now. Some vermin make good choices. How can you think ill of someone who saved your life?_

She watched until Aspen was out of sight, thinking of their conversation, thinking of Aspen and her ferret friend, thinking of Veil.


End file.
